The Epic HeroArchetype Traits Project

Resiliency is the ability to bounce back from whatever life throws at you and come back even stronger. Every epic hero needs to be resilient because no one gets through life without getting knocked down a few times. The ability to get up after we fall is what truly matters.

Odysseus showed his resiliency in the battle with the cyclops. Most men would have given up after they realized they were trapped in a cave with a giant man-eating monster. However, it was Odysseus' resilience and never-give-up attitude that allowed him to defeat the cyclops from a seemingly impossible situation. ( Odyssey Book 9, lines 416-419)

Throughout the story of Dragon Ball Z, Goku is defeated by his enemies several times, sometimes multiple times in one battle. But Goku is extremely resilient. Every time Goku is beaten up, he either trains very hard so that he doesn't lose again or he eats one of his senzu beans and goes right back into battle. It is literally in Goku's DNA to come back stronger after he loses a fight.

Epic heroes old and new have played a huge part in my upbringing. When I was younger I had a low self-esteem and was very lazy. I often watched cartoons because I did not always feel like socializing or doing anything productive. Little did I know that the the superhero characters that I used to watch to escape reality, would also be the same characters who helped get me back my life together. They were confident, capable, and anything but lazy. I wanted to be just like them so I began to imitate their most noble qualities and began working out at the gym. The epic heroes that I looked up to truly inspired me to become mentally and physically healthy and that is why I still watch cartoons filled with epic heroes even as a grown man with a full time job.